buying fish from Petco/Petsmart

[CichlidLady0312]

Always wondered why their fish are always cheaper than LFSs? Is there a reason for this? Picked up yellow labs for 3.00 they seem healthy, havent had any issues w the fish. Would you stay clear of these stores?

 

[Mogurako]

Same reason why Wal-mart is cheaper than your local mom and pop grocery stores. Large chains like Petco/Petsmart buy in bulk and are able to sell more fish at a lower price because they are able to afford having a lower margin on the fish than your LFS. They can also afford to make little to no money off of fish because the accessories and tanks is where the money is at for them. Even if fish sales are down dog/cat food/toys are their bread and butter and can easily keep a store afloat.

Another reason for the higher prices is a LFS has to go through a wholesaler to purchase their fish and dry goods in smaller batches at whatever prices the wholesaler feels like they need to sell at to make money. Where as chain stores buy so much product they can buy directly from the factory or fish farms for much less than the wholesalers can even get.

I am willing to bet there is a 15-35% margin on their fish but 40-75% margin on their filters, heaters, replacement media, food, ect. I worked in retail for 8 years 6 of those years as a manager, any business is pretty much the same at its core. I know how the game works

 

[Coryluv]

They are often, but not always lower. This week the yellow labs at my local Petsmart were $8.95 if I remember correctly. Interestingly, from what I can tell, your LFS and the chains may often get their fish from the same sources.

I've had good and bad luck from both the chains and LFS. For example, neons from my then (I moved) local Petco were not good stock and I'd lose 4 out of five within the first week. No visible signs of diseases, just dropped dead even with drip acclimation. I had no problems and no losses with their glowlights and corys.

While I always look at general cleanliness, dead stock, signs of disease, I'm beginning to think that there is no way to absolutely assure getting healthy fish. There are ways to assure getting unhealthy fish, though. IMHO all we can do is increase the odds by getting to know each store, their general mode of operation, and the looks of their tanks.

If you see a fish you like at a good price and the fish, store and tanks look good, why not try it? Especially if you have a QT. I just set up my first QT after having a disaster with a batch of fish from a pristine and well regarded store. In the end I believe it was columnaris (cured by Maracyn 2) so it could have just been stress susceptibility and no ones fault really. I drip acclimated those fish, too. They started dropping within 48 hours. One of six survived. I spent more on meds than I did on the fish. Haven't been back to that store yet, but I don't really blame them either. I paid a premium for those fish, too.

 

[spyderbite]

I work at a PetSmart but I have no experience with the ordering/pricing of fish. But I would guess that it has a lot to do with volume of sales. My PetSmart easily goes through 100 neons 2x a week for example. Thus it is no mystery that they can charge as little as .80 per.

 

[spyderbite]

Oops. I'd add that lack of variety and exotics is also a big factor. I am getting my next order from an LFS because PS doesn't carry the Tetras I want.

 

[CichlidLady0312]

I was asking more for thw health of the fishes. If they were interbred n that sort of thing

 

[Mogurako]

I was asking more for thw health of the fishes. If they were interbred n that sort of thing

Unless you buy your fish from a LFS that gets their fish from The Cichlid Exchange chances are they all come from Florida or Asian fish farms and tend to be overbred.